The government is mulling setting up a LIGO project to study the gravitational waves either in Rajasthan or Maharashtra. “Deliberations are on to select a site. We have shortlisted a place near Udaipur in Rajasthan and another place in Maharashtra. However, a final call is yet to be taken,” said a senior official in the Ministry of Science and Technology.
On February 17, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given ‘in principle’ approval to the LIGO-India mega science proposal for research on gravitational waves. The LIGO-India (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in India) project is piloted by Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology (DST). The LIGO-India project will establish a state-of-the-art gravitational wave observatory in India in collaboration with the LIGO Laboratory in the US run by Caltech and MIT.
The project will provide opportunities to scientists and engineers to dig deeper into the realm of gravitational wave and take global leadership in this new field. It is also expected to bring considerable opportunities in cutting edge technology for the Indian industry which will be engaged in the construction of eight kilometre long beam tube at ultra-high vacuum on a levelled terrain.
Earlier this year scientists had for the first time observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves, arriving at the earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe. It had confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and opened a new window onto the cosmos. Indian scientists too had played a crucial role in the discovery.
The machines that gave the scientists the first glimpse of gravitational waves are the most advanced detectors ever built for sensing tiny vibrations in the universe. The two US-based underground detectors are known as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO for short. One is located in Hanford, Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana.
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